


Below the Fold

by kakawot



Category: Bartimaeus - Jonathan Stroud, Danny Phantom
Genre: Crossover, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-11
Updated: 2013-11-11
Packaged: 2018-01-01 05:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1040779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakawot/pseuds/kakawot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Impossible colors swirled behind that door in the Ghost Zone. Danny had no idea that the door would lead him to a djinni determined to get out of a summoning, and that he could be dragged into a world where magicians had never heard of ghosts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Below the Fold

**Author's Note:**

> I realize that this crossover probably has a tiny audience, but the idea hit me hard. Nevertheless, if you've read/seen both these excellent books/series, I hope you enjoy this crossover.
> 
> I'm ESL, so if you come across any phrases or grammar which seems odd, please let me know. I'm always willing to learn.

There was only blackness behind the door. No, Danny realized, he saw more than blackness. There were colors there, familiar and unfamiliar ones, twirling and curling into each other in never-ending motions. The blackness itself felt alive, whispering in his ears. They welcomed him, urged the voice in the back of his mind to step over the threshold, to join them in the eternal silence of being.

An explosion right next to Danny made him shift his focus from the oily colors to the large ghost hunting him. The red creature was gigantic and had been on his tail for the past half hour. In his exploration of the Ghost Zone Danny flew a little too close to the ghostly creature and apparently it took offense to that, because it chased after Danny and kept on dogging him relentlessly, roaring and occasionally throwing ghost rays to slow Danny down.

No matter what Danny did, the ghost followed him. Danny had tried turning invisible, hiding behind floating islands, shaking him off by zigzagging and blasting the ghost away, but it was a far better hunter than Skulker.

There was only one escape: losing the creature inside one of the pocket dimensions hiding behind every door in the Ghost Zone. Or maybe the door led to the past or future, the Ghost Zone liked to switch things around to keep it interesting. At any rate, any pocket dimension contained more hiding places than the Ghost Zone.

Danny dodged another ghost-ray in the nick of time. It landed on the doorframe but the force of the explosion forced him forwards. One hand touched the colors, but that was enough. The oily colors grabbed hold of him, sucking him in and although Danny screamed in fright and struggled to free himself, a part of him wanted to join the darkness, the joy of simply _being_ overwhelming his resolve to keep his body in one piece. The voices closed in on him, pulling him completely inside. He never even heard the door swing shut behind him..

* * *

He duplicated himself at least three times, he noticed. His mind felt strangely detached about this fact, he got more a general sense of 'oh, that's alright then', rather than freaking out because duplicating himself once strained him already.

But then he shifted back to one viewpoint, looked at it from eight angles before drifting into two viewpoints. Slowly he realized that something was terribly wrong. His consciousness drew in on itself once he realized he no longer possessed a body. The second he broke the threshold his body had dissipated into green mist, drifting off into the distance. Only there was no distance, nothing to measure the horizon which didn't exist. There were only colors and lights and textures all around him, through him.

Things flickered into existence but before he could get a clear look they disappeared. Fragments of speech lingered, crossing through the colors before falling apart into feelings. The fragments were in languages he didn't speak, but he understood them on a basic level. Commands, cries of pain and joy, a woman whispering to her frightened child, they all reached his consciousness at the same time yet they didn't create a cacophony.

The detachment began to disappear and he remembered. His name Danny, Danny Fenton. He was alive and spread out across this weird dimension. Danny had trouble remembering how he got here. As long as his mind kept on insisting that this moment of existing was normal, he wouldn't get anywhere. Not that he could see where he could _go_ , everything was alright as long as he kept drifting.

When something tore into his body he added his own sounds to the multitude of sounds around him. He cried out in surprise and slight fear.

_Spirit, dissipate_ , something whispered to him. It bit into him again, forcing Danny to twist away from the voice. But that didn't help. _Let go_ , the thing injected into his mind, prying his focus apart.

Danny struggled to keep hold of his identity, his name, his everything. He lassoed the power of his name around his mind, keeping a tight hold of it. The voice backed off, hissing in surprise.

_You're defined_ , it said. The word bounced all around, _defined, defined_ , and Danny felt the energies became sharper, more in focus. They no longer drifted randomly through him, but they gathered around him like a jock team in need of a geek to beat up. Danny had been in that situation often enough to recognize when to get out.

A flickering image of Dash Baxter superimposed on the energies made him stumble to a halt in his thoughts. They read his mind?

_Back off,_ warned Danny, grasping his name, his identity tighter around himself. He shifted his viewpoint from the outside into the small ball of matter he'd subconsciously formed to protect his consciousness. With some semblance of a body his sense of self returned. The green ball was a safe haven for the raging colors around him.

One coil of texture reached out and flicked the ball. Danny flew backwards, pulling more matter into the ball as he did so. But then another coil reached in from behind, tapping his body. Danny once again recoiled, back into the image of Dash Baxter. And then they relentlessly attacked him on all sides, prying into his mind, his spirit, everything he ever was and would be.

Danny didn't even have time to scream as they did so, forcing him to give up his hold on his name, his identity, to forever float among the energies and forget about himself.

_HELP!_ he managed to cry as a last resort, although he knew that there was nobody around. At least, nothing he recognized as a sentient being. His mind teetered on the brink of extinction, a tiny fleck of the green ball remaining.

_Yes?_ answered an impatient voice. Danny threw out every last one of his fears at the voice, begging it to rescue him somehow, to make it stop, he wanted to live out life as Danny, not as a void. The auditory assault made the impatient voice pause, images flickering into existence of a small boy, too quickly to identify.

_Stop,_ commanded the voice. Danny managed to rein his thoughts in and drifted into another coil, gently bouncing off.

_Focus yourself, boy. You're not in danger of losing yourself. We are all one here. You have nothing to fear._

_Easy for you to say_ , retorted Danny. _You're just a voice. I'm a ghost._

The voice retreated for a second before returning full force. _A ghost? You're a human! No, you're not. You're…_

Danny got the idea that the voice was collecting its thoughts somehow, flickering through a thousand pictures in under a second, with layers of meaning floating underneath, and a third layer underneath that, all the way up to seven layers with different meanings, different ideas. It made him feel sick just looking at it.

_Alright, I'll help you_ , said the voice. The senseless energies all around Danny shifted, focused into recognizable shapes. All of a sudden there was a floor underneath him, a solid marble white floor which looked like it had been scooped out of an old manor.

Danny fought with the swirls and coils all around him to find his signature energy, calling his ghost powers back to his body. It felt like pulling himself together after Freakshow had turned him into jelly, but harder. The energies fought him every step of the way, but over the years he had gotten used to mentally calling upon his ghostly energies to turn himself intangible and throw ghost rays.

With the presence of the voice some of his confidence reappeared and he no longer felt alone, thrust into an alien world. That helped boost his powers.

After what felt like an eternity Danny's ghostly form collapsed onto the marble. He panted heavily, his eyes screwed shut to keep the raging world shut out.

_Impressive,_ said the voice. Danny slowly worked himself to all fours before opening his eyes. The voice had continued building up the room around them while Danny had struggled to pull his body together. Yellow pillars supported a blue roof, both solid-looking. Beyond the small building the impossible colors swirled around, keeping far away from the building.

Danny took a deep breath before getting to his feet, swaying slightly. His mind felt exhausted, but at least everything was in one place. The trouble was keeping it there, because even now the world around him tugged at his body.

_Could you show yourself?_ asked Danny tentatively, not sure if he wanted to meet a creature from such a strange dimension.

_I don't see the point, boy_. _I'm all around you, this is nothing but a construct, a temporary piece of nothingness which will disappear as soon as-_

_Please?_

The voice hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before sighing. A figure stepped from thin air, a boy even smaller than Danny's far from tall height. He looked like he had stepped out of a Middle-East history book, complete with loincloth. He looked terrifyingly beautiful, an unearthly glow spread across his features. His eyes were frightening though, they reflected the energies all around them, marking him as something far from what Danny was familiar with.

_Happy now, imposing order on us? On me_? the boy asked, his mouth forming the words but the sounds echoing from somewhere to Danny's left.

Danny nodded. _Yes, thank you._ _Could you explain what this place is?_

The boy raised both eyebrows. _You don't know? How did you get here without knowing that? You just decided to check out Ptolemy's Apocrypha and thought it'd be a blast to visit the Other Place? You're messed up, kid, seriously-_

Danny held up a hand to slow the boy's onslaught of sound and pictures, of a book, desert, pain and longing and an abyss of love so deep he feared gazing into it.

_I came through a door,_ said Danny. _A door in the Ghost Zone, that's all._

The boy's eyes narrowed and he took a step closer. _You came through a door? You're telling me you got in through the White Hole?_

_If that's your name for the door leading to the Ghost Zone, then, yes. Can you get me there so I can return to my dimension?_

The boy took another step closer. Danny stepped back, careful to keep his feet on solid ground. In theory he could fly, but he knew he'd be ripped to shreds the second he left the shelter of the building.

_Only spirits can enter through that door. And you're a human._

Danny waved his hands about, flecks of matter dripping down his fingers as he temporarily lost focus of his body, straining his exhausted mind to calm the boy down.

_I'm not! I mean, I am, but, well, long story-_

_We've got all the time in the world, human._

When he noticed his fingers had turned into something resembling melted wax candles he spent a few moments getting them back in shape before replying.

_Alright, listen. I'm a half-ghost. Ectoplasm bound to my DNA and ever since I've been able to turn into a ghost. That's why I was in the Ghost Zone in the first place. Now, will you please help me get home? I'll die if I stay here any longer._

The boy waved a hand in a dismissing way. _Oh, you won't die. You'll only go mad and lose your sense of self._

_Same difference, huh,_ replied Danny in a flat tone. _If it's all the same to you, I'd still rather get back without losing my mind._

_Why would I help you?_ the boy questioned, looking away from Danny's indignant green eyes and yawning theatrically. His yawn abruptly stopped half-way and a pained expression settled on his face. The building vaporized in trails of mist and Danny was once again subjected to the full forces of this dimension, tearing at his body.

But something else tugged at his body, something far more painful. The boy had nearly disappeared but stood closer than before, enveloping Danny in coils of matter. A thousand tiny hooks bit into Danny and he cried out, struggling to free himself from the stinging hug.

_No, no, not again. I just got here!_ moaned the boy. _Keep hold, kid, keep being solid,_ he encouraged. Danny focused on doing that, but it was no use. An inevitable tug, not unlike the feeling of getting sucked into a Fenton Thermos, and Danny went tumbling through the not-air, down, down and through light and matter, with the boy alongside him. Darkness claimed him as he passed through a raging fire.

* * *

Solid ground appeared underneath him and Danny rolled across it, limbs going everywhere and he hit his head hard. He came to a stop against the wall and lay there for a few moments, dazed and limbs akimbo.

"Zero points for style," the voice stated solemnly. Danny slowly opened his eyes and winced as the bright light worsened the headache pounding across his skull.

"And zero for tenacity. And zero for style. Did you walk out of one of those flashing dancing places?"

Before Danny could do anything a weight settled on his chest and kept him pinned to the ground. An ugly creature sat on his chest, brandishing sharp claws at Danny's jugular. The creature looked like it had read up on gremlins and decided to become one.

"What," said a young male voice, "is the meaning of this? I order you to explain!"

Out of fighter's instinct Danny focused on his ice core, blasting the ugly thing with ice using only his eyes. The small creature yelped before it got completely encased. Danny swept the block of ice off him and sat upright, attempting to ignore the headache.

He had landed in an office, he saw. Albeit one he'd never seen before. A large mahogany desk sat on one side, with a leather swivel chair accompanying the somber décor. Large windows showed a view of a sprawling modern city. Near the window lay a raised platform with incomprehensible runes scrawled all around it, crossing into a pentacle in the center. A second pentacle was drawn on the same platform with more writing surrounding it. Burning candles in all colors of the rainbow, set in specific patterns, covered the rest of the raised platform.

Inside the large pentacle stood a monstrous creature, a cross between a crocodile and a … parrot, going by the plumage. It held up three signs with three bold zeroes stamped across them. Its free hand pointed at Danny.

"I'd like you to meet," he paused for emphasis, "a creature from another dimension!"

Inside the small pentacle stood a teenager, not looking a day over fifteen. He wore a sharp suit and had decided to deplete the world's supply of oil across his hair. He frowned at the monster, not a trace of fear on his young face.

" _You're_ from another dimension. I'm hardly impressed. Now tell me again-"

"If nobody starts explaining things very soon, I've got a lot of misplaced aggression to work out, and I'm not sure when I'll stop," said Danny in low warning tones. His voice sounded raspy, but he managed to get the message across. As he talked, he slowly got up, using the wall as support. His knees wobbled weakly but they'd hold him for now.

The teenager whirled around, surprised at the sound of Danny's voice. His eyes widened even further when he saw that Danny was getting up, the creature effectively taken care of. He said something under his breath and snapped his fingers.

A second creature appeared out of thin air and lunged for Danny. Thanks to years of ghost fighting Danny stepped out of the way in time and delivered a crippling blow to the poor creature's face, making it crumble to the floor. It whined before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

"Oi! Mandrake! I know this goes against everything you believe in, but that ghost is innocent!" said the voice, coming from the monster.

The teenager didn't turn back but kept his eyes trained on Danny. Danny did the same, ready to attack or defend should the need arise. He felt rattled all over, as if somebody had decided to throw his bones in the blender and left it on at full blast. But at least he no longer had to focus to keep his body intact, every limb was accounted for. Now if the human in front of him stopped throwing ugly gremlins at him his life would already be a lot better.

"Did you say 'ghost'?" asked the teenager. The crocoparrot nodded.

"Like I said, a creature from another dimension. _Another_ another dimension, not the Other Place."

The teenager straightened and turned back to the monster, adopting a louder tone. "In that case, I command you, Bartimaeus, to protect me from this creature. You may not harm me, you may not let me come to harm, physically or mental, nor through inaction let me come to harm, from this point forward until I dismiss you from this task."

"Got it," replied the crocoparrot begrudgingly.

"You are hereby released from the pentacle until I see fit to call upon you again."

With hopping strides the monster leapt from the pentacle and positioned itself between Danny and the teenager, morphing into a fierce red-skinned warrior mid-leap. It reminded Danny a lot of Bertrand, Spectra's assistant who could morph into whatever shape he wished as well. But there was something wrong with the disguise. It looked alright at first glance, but when Danny looked harder, there was a distinct look of another layer superimposed on the monster, which looked a lot like dirty dishwater.

"Alright, ghost, answer my questions," said the teenager. Danny settled into a battle-ready stance, having watched the exchange silently but diligently, making mental notes of this room and the people in it.

"If you answer mine first," retorted Danny. "Who are you, where are we, and what the _hell_ are _you_?"

He finished by pointing at the warrior, who adopted a hurt look. Before the teenager could answer the warrior boasted: "I am Bartimaeus of Uruk! I am Sakhr Al-Jinni, the Serpent of Silver Plumes, N'Gorso the Mighty! I built the walls of Prague and spoke with Solomon!"

Then the warrior seemed to shrink in on itself as it continued in a conversational tone. "You're in London, if you can't tell by the smell, and the pasty-faced teenager over there is John Mandrake, magician."

A muffled cry of anger sounded behind the warrior's back. Before the warrior could react golden sparks leapt from the teenager's fingers and struck Bartimaeus in the back, making him collapse forward. Danny leapt out of the way to avoid getting crushed.

Mandrake came back into view and his features had transformed from a frown to a scowl.

"I'll ask the same questions. Who are you, what are you, and what are you doing here? I advise you to tell the truth, I've got a dozen demons under my command, ready to tear you limb from limb if you lie or twist your words."

A snort came from the warrior, something which both boys ignored. Danny warily answered Mandrake's questions, looking for a sign that the teenager would hurt him with those golden sparks.

"My name is Danny Phantom. I'm a ghost, and I have no idea how I got here. I was minding my own business in the Ghost Zone when I got chased into this… Other Place, and then someone, I'm guessing you," Danny pointed at the warrior, who got up and remained alert at the teenager's side, "dragged me down here."

The warrior sheepishly scratched behind its ear. "Yeah, sorry about that. I tried to avoid getting summoned and grabbing hold of you seemed a brilliant plan."

"Well, it wasn't," said Danny, rubbing his chest. His body had recovered from the assault of the thousand tiny hooks, but he still felt weak and ready to keel over and sleep until Jazz shook him awake, telling him that he'd missed an entire day of school. "That _hurt._ But you still haven't answered my question. I'm a ghost, but what are _you_?"

"He's a demon," said Mandrake at the same time Bartimaeus said: "I'm a djinni."

"A djinni, huh. Like in those a thousand and one night stories?" asked Danny, trying to remember the terms Sam had drilled into him during their visits to the Skulk & Lurk, the Goth bookstore.

"No," said Bartimaeus. "A lot better than that."

"Regardless of what kind of demon he is, I want to know: what is your mission? Do you have a master? I command you to tell me your objective!"

Danny waved his hands up and down, attempting to lower the volume the boy used to ease his headache.

"Relax, kid, I'm not here to-"

"My name," the teenager interrupted, "is John Mandrake, boy. Use it before I summon my demons to get the truth out of you."

Danny drew himself up to his full height. Which wasn't impressive, he knew, but he hoped that the glowing aura and unnatural green eyes helped his appearance.

"I'm a ghost. You do know what that is, I hope. It's the spirit of a deceased person. I might be a thousand years old and you wouldn't be able to tell. So, kid, listen. I'm not here to harm you, I got here by accident. I just want to get home, as soon as possible."

Mandrake looked at Danny for a full ten seconds before saying anything. But Bartimaeus filled the silence with chatter.

"Listen, if you dismiss me I can take Danny here back home, no trouble. All you got to do is hop into that pentacle there and you'll have him out of your hair before you can say 'But my suit is too big for me'!"

" _Are_ you a thousand years old?" Mandrake finally asked. It was Danny's turn to look sheepish.

"Err, no. Mandrake, I really have to get home. I've got enough weird creatures back on Earth to keep me busy for the next thousand years though, I don't need these… djinni's to complicate everything."

"We don't complicate, we simplify," said the warrior. Both boys ignored him, again. Mandrake cocked his head as he heard a familiar word.

"Earth?" he asked, then pointed to the ground. " _This_ is Earth. You said you come from the Ghost Zone, and now you're talking about Earth."

Before the teenager could get any more suspicious (if that was at all possible) Danny hurried to explain.

"Yeah, I live on a planet also called 'Earth'. The Ghost Zone is the dimension connected to the Earth, sort of the flipside of Earth. We created several portals between the two dimensions, so we can travel back and forth. I was travelling through the Ghost Zone when I got chased into a door leading to the Other Place."

"How come you're speaking English?"

"I could ask you the same question. Although you sound British."

"And you sound American."

That got Danny the most suspicious glare of all. Mandrake turned to Bartimaeus.

"See to it that this 'ghost' doesn't leave this room. I'll inform Ms. Whitwell that we've got an American spy in our midst."

Mandrake let his eyes turn to Danny as he said this, probably hoping for a reaction. But Danny looked puzzled at the accusation. Spying? When Mandrake turned to leave Danny knew he had to act now before anyone else got involved. Then he'd have a real problem on his hands. He could take on this boy, but who knew what other kind of creatures existed out there.

Bartimaeus looked apologetic but still he positioned himself in front of Danny, blocking his view of Mandrake.

Danny dashed forward, turning himself intangible and he phased through the djinni, who gave a gasp as he pushed through. He willed his hand to turn tangible before forcibly turning Mandrake around.

"I am not a spy! I sound American because I _am_ from America! But we're not at war or something with England!"

"Bartimaeus!" cried the boy, trying to wriggle out of Danny's grip. But Danny possessed supernatural strength and he only gripped Mandrake tighter. The djinni attempted to grab hold of Danny, but his arms passed right through him.

"He's gone see-through," growled the warrior.

"Call him off and I'll let you go," bargained Danny. He didn't want to hurt the boy, but his haughty tone and quick accusations were riling him up. Add that to the headache and general weakness all across his body and all he wanted was to go home.

"Let me go, fiend!" Mandrake hissed, not complying with Danny's wishes. Danny knew he had to find a way to defuse the situation, and fast. He did let go of the boy and leapt backwards, through the warrior and hovered in the air, arms limp at his side.

"Will you _listen_ to me!" he yelled. He hoped that by distancing himself Mandrake would be less inclined to sic creatures on him, and actually listen to Danny for a change. Bartimaeus took a step towards Danny, but refrained from making any hostile moves. Mandrake's eyes blazed and his hair was ruffled, but he too waited for Danny to talk. He had positioned himself slightly behind Bartimaeus for extra protection, Danny noted.

"You have to help me out here, Mandrake. I promise I'm not a spy, I'm not one of these 'demons', I'm just a ghost trying to get home. See? I float, I'm intangible, I'm a ghost. Yes, I'm American, but I'm from a dimension where our countries aren't at war, nor about to go to war. If you dismiss this djinni, I can go home, he can go home, and I'll leave you alone for the rest of your life."

Danny stated his case in an increasingly rational voice, trying to force his logic onto Mandrake, making him see it from Danny's point of view. That finally seemed to get through Mandrake's skull.

"Prove that you're not a demon," he demanded. "You came through the portal with Bartimaeus. So far you've shown that you're a supernatural being, but now show me that you're a 'ghost' and not an ordinary demon."

The warrior bristled at the 'ordinary' part. Danny looked at him for help.

"Uh, how do I do that? I haven't got a clue what a demon can and can't do."

Bartimaeus wore a huge grin on his face, apparently amused at the direction of the confrontation. "He's already shown you, Mandrake. If you weren't so blind you'd have seen that he can turn intangible. Djinni can't."

"That could have been an illusion," dismissed Mandrake the idea. He rooted around through a pocket on his ridiculously oversized suit and produced a metal nugget. Bartimaeus took a step back from the thing as Mandrake tossed it through the air. Danny snatched it and looked at the metal nugget. It looked like it was made from silver, with something engraved on it. One edge was sharp enough to cut. Before Danny could properly analyze it Mandrake tossed another metal thing at him. The candle holder Mandrake tossed was made of metal too and Bartimaeus shrank back even farther.

"Err, what am I supposed to with these?" asked Danny, waving the silver nugget and candle holder around.

"I believe that you're not a demon," said Mandrake in way of an answer, "for now."

Danny landed on the floor and placed the candle holder and nugget on the raised platform, next to some burning candles spreading a pleasant spicy smell.

"Great," said Danny. "So you'll dismiss this guy so he can help me get home? Once I'm back at full strength, that is, because right now I'll be torn apart before I can get to the White Hole."

"The White Hole?" questioned Mandrake, but the ghost ignored him. His knees still trembled and he had barely maintained his intangibility in the first place. The memory of the savage dimension was still fresh on his mind. He was in no hurry to relive that experience again, no matter how much he wanted to go home.

"When I get back to full strength, you'll allow me to go home?" he demanded from Mandrake, letting his piercing green eyes bore into those of Mandrake. The boy looked away after a few seconds.

"If you help me out with a small matter, I'll let you go home," said Mandrake. Danny felt a surge of anger bloom inside. This whining kid dared to stand between Danny and his family and friends? Green energy built up around his fists and Bartimaeus slowly shook his head, tensing his muscles to leap between Mandrake and Danny should the need arise. He did so reluctantly, but he did it nevertheless.

"You can't command me around," warned Danny in a low voice. "It looks like you can tell Bartimaeus what to do, but you can't do that to me. I've been controlled once and I won't let that happen again."

His tone showed his ice core and Danny knew that his eyes glowed, like they always did when he was angry.

"But you can't go home until I dismiss Bartimaeus. You need to regain your strength, and you need to wait for that. So if you swear you'll help me out I in turn swear I'll let you go as soon as the job is done."

Danny glowered at the boy for a few more seconds before he blew out a frustrated sigh. As usual, he had no say in events. He wanted to dunk this kid's head in the toilet a few times, but as it was, he couldn't. So he stepped forward and stuck out his hand.

"Agreed," he said. "But if you don't, I swear I'll come down on you so hard… You have no idea what ghosts are capable of."

Mandrake eyed Danny's hand and then shook it with a firm handshake, letting go as soon as possible.

"You _need_ that dismissal though. So coming down is… inadvisable. Now, for the job."

The boy indicated a room somewhere in the building with a jerk of his head.

"Downstairs you'll find five hundred adverts I need you to put up across London. You'll find everything you need to perform this job in the same room. You will display these only on approved billboards erected by the government, recognizable by the stamp of approval on the back. You will do this job swiftly and precisely, with the adverts displayed the right way up and in proper condition. You will leave the billboards alone and standing upright. You will not add anything else to these billboards besides the adverts. When you are done you are allowed to come to me, unless I am sleeping, in the bathroom or in a meeting. Is this clear?"

Danny's eyes widened, first at the ridiculous 'job' Mandrake wanted him to do, then at the many additions Mandrake added. He didn't know for whose benefit those were, but if Bartimaeus was anything like Desiree the wishing ghost, using the right phrases was crucial.

"Are you serious?" Danny asked. "You want me to put up _posters_?"

"Yes," replied Mandrake. "If you value your return home, it'll be wise to listen to me."

Danny felt his eye twitch. Bartimaeus clapped him jovially on the back. "Alright, ghost boy, move out!"

He changed his form from the red-skinned warrior into that of an average looking human wearing a long woolen overcoat and a grey beret. Pleasant blue eyes twinkled underneath bushy eyebrows. The man looked young enough to be Danny's brother, but even so Danny saw something wrong in the man's eyes. And the superimposed image of the dirty dishwater still showed.

"Alright, I suppose," sighed Danny, glaring at Mandrake one last time before following Bartimaeus through the doorway into the adjoining corridor. "Seriously, what's his problem?" snapped Danny once they walked out of hearing range. Bartimaeus grinned.

"I think it has to do with his tie, cutting off all circulation to his brain," said the djinni. Danny still felt angry enough to punch something into something smaller. "Though, to be fair, every magician is a lousy master. Some more than others. C'mon, in here."

Bartimaeus led them into a small room containing rows and rows of posters and gallons of glue, with brushes still in their packaging scattered all over the place. He whistled at the amount of posters.

"Imagine, I built the walls of Jericho, and now Mandrake has me putting up _adverts_ for his shortsighted campaign. Me, the djinni who has seen more empires rise and fall than Mandrake has popped pimples."

"That's gross," retorted Danny. He sat down heavily on a jar of glue and finally let his exhaustion overcome him. His limbs trembled and he fought back the urge to transform into a human. He didn't doubt that Mandrake would use every means available to spy on him, and the last thing he wanted the kid to find out was his half-ghost status.

The djinni's gently touched Danny's shoulder. "You need food?" he asked simply. Danny nodded slowly, gauging his reserves and his ability to keep a meal inside at the moment.

"I've got to get my energy back up. But aren't we supposed to put up these adverts as soon as possible?"

"I'm sure they can wait," said the djinni confidently. Without another word he strode out the door, leaving Danny alone.

Danny hung his head low, willing to be home, in his bed. What had he gotten himself into this time?

* * *

Apparently Danny had nodded off somewhere in between hoping this was all a bad dream and throwing meaningless glares at the posters, because after an undetermined time someone shook Danny's shoulder. Blearily Danny's head shot up, fast enough to surprise the person waking him up. Danny looked directly into the swirling energies of the Other Place, otherwise known as Bartimaeus' eyes.

"Here, I got you something to eat," said Bartimaeus, offering him a plate filled with bread and salad, a steaming pile of mashed potatoes on the side. A slab of meat almost fell off the plate, only kept there by its own grease.

"Thanks," said Danny, accepting the plate. Quickly he made a proper sandwich out of the ingredients and bit into it, savoring the taste. He devoured the bread, scooped up the mashed potatoes and had a serious internal debate whether he should lick the plate clean. In record time the food had gone and Danny felt energy flow back into his form. His limbs no longer trembled and the annoying urge of his body to turn back into a human had disappeared.

"Listen, because I'm only going to say this once," said Bartimaeus. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this world, I never intended for that to happen. I had no idea that _could_ happen. When we get back to the Other Place I'll see to it that I'll get you to the White Hole as soon as possible."

"Thanks," Danny said again, getting up from the bucket of glue and stretching. His spine popped back into place with audible cracks and he groaned, cracking his neck to get the kinks out. His nap had done him well, but now his neck was killing him.

"I appreciate that. If it weren't for that jerk Mandrake, we'd be back already."

"Yeah," agreed Bartimaeus all too readily. "You feeling up for putting up these adverts?"

Danny shrugged, drawing more cracks from his neck and shoulders. "Why not. The sooner I can go home, the better."

Together they gathered up as much materials as they could carry before setting out into the streets of London.

* * *

The London of this Earth was a city unlike Danny had ever seen. The architecture was a far cry from what he was familiar with in the small town of Amity Park. There were far fewer cars, Danny noticed. Cycling and walking seemed to be the main mode of transportation. The language buzzed all around him, sounding familiar but then again not. There were twangs to the words he had only heard on television and from the transfer student in his class.

The city was very much alive though, as alive as any major metropolitan area. Normal-looking humans crossed the roads to get to the other side, talked while waiting at bus stops, they laughed and ate and bartered on the markets. It all seemed so familiar and yet Danny knew that he was in a whole other dimension thanks to the shape shifting djinni he was traveling with.

Bartimaeus led Danny from billboard to billboard, gluing up the adverts with experienced hand. Danny realized that this wasn't the first time he'd done something like this.

"So a 'magician' can summon djinni like you?" asked Danny, handing the brush to Bartimaeus. They stood on the edge of a building, where they had to put up an extra-large poster on an extra-large billboard overlooking a market square.

"Yeah, if they know the proper spells and my name, they sadly can. And I have to do whatever they tell me to."

Danny blanched. "That's – that's horrible! That's slavery!"

"Give the kid a medal," said Bartimaeus to no one in particular. He used the brush to spread the glue out evenly across the poster.

"And this happens all over the world?"

"Pretty much. Though currently this is a city with a lot of magicians. There are cities where 'commoners' rule the country."

"How long has this been going on?" asked Danny, accepting the brush back and handing another part of the poster to Bartimaeus.

"Oh, about… six thousand years, give or take."

Danny's mouth fell open. "Six thousand… You said you erected the walls of Prague… Just how old _are_ you?"

"What, you'd dare ask a woman that question?" replied Bartimaeus in a simpering voice. Danny looked up at the djinni, who'd transformed into a busty woman, pouting her full lips and adopting a languid pose. Danny couldn't help it, he laughed at the sudden transformation. Bartimaeus bowed deep, accidentally spilling some glue onto the ground.

"Thank you, I'm here every Thursday at ten."

"But seriously, how old are you?"

Bartimaeus resumed gluing the advert, still wearing the disguise of a woman. "Five thousand," he simply said. "Plus a few hundred years. At least, what year is it?"

Danny gave him a blank look.

"Right. So, five thousand years old. And you're not a thousand years old, are you?"

Danny gave a wry grin. "No… more like sixteen."

Bartimaeus barked out a laugh. "Nice one, kid."

They worked in silence for a while, settling into a routine. Danny would keep everything ready, handing the stuff one by one to Bartimaeus and receiving the used items back. They had managed to cover two hundred billboards with the ugly posters before the sun began to set over the large city. Danny kept on looking over the cityscape, looking for any familiar landmarks. But all he recognized was a large church he'd seen in a movie once.

"You doing alright?" asked Bartimaeus, breaking the silence. Danny turned around and automatically handed the glue brush to the djinni.

"Yeah," replied Danny. "It's weird to see a city so different from my world. We've got a lot more cars on my planet."

The djinni made an inquiring noise and Danny continued talking. "And we're not at war with England, but with another country. Do you have a country called 'Iraq' here?"

Bartimaeus shook his head.

"Oh. Well, what's America like here?"

Danny listened with rapt attention as Bartimaeus described the wilderness, the fact that they were currently still a colony of Great Britain, but fighting to secure their freedom and become independent.

"Amazing, so much difference yet so much resemblances. Makes you wonder, huh."

Bartimaeus jumped down from his perch on the billboard edge to Danny's side.

"Not really. I've seen enough empires crumble to not care anymore. All humans do is pick wars with each other, summon djinni and afrits and marids to duke it out, with them sitting safely back home. I've seen war and bloodshed, I've killed and almost gotten killed more times than I like to admit. It's all the same to me now. You're young, kid, but if it were up to me I'd be prefer to be left alone in the Other Place."

Danny didn't know what to say to that, so he kept quiet, gazing out across the cityscape. He spotted another billboard on top of a building quite a ways off and leapt into the sky.

"Race you?" he asked, pointing at the billboard in the distance. "That is, uh, if you can fly." Maybe he could lighten the conversation a little, because what Bartimaeus had told him was just depressing. He felt like he was manning a suicide hotline for a second.

In response Bartimaeus morphed into a hawk-like bird. "Please," he said in a haughty tone. "I'm a creature of fire and air."

With one wing he indicated the spot next to him. "But you're not getting a head start."

Danny obliged and landed next to the hawk, settling into a sprinter's position.

"On my mark," said the hawk, fluffing up its feathers. "GetsetGO!" he yelled in one breath, taking off impossibly fast. Without wasting a breath about the unfair start Danny shot off after him, his legs morphing into a spectral tail, arms at his side for better aerodynamics. He kept his eyes trained on the billboard, pouring all of his considerable power into propelling him faster. He knew from training with his friends that his current top speed was a hundred and forty miles per hour. He wondered if Bartimaeus could top that.

All too soon the billboard came closer. Danny dared a quick glance around to spot the hawk. Danny was ahead by a toe's length. Danny stretched himself out even further, readying his intangibility. It was time for _him_ to cheat.

Bartimaeus had to slow down in order to touch the billboard, but Danny didn't have to. He kept up his top speed and soared _through_ the billboard a body length earlier than Bartimaeus. Danny laughed in elation at the sense of speed, his white hair whipping across his head as he curved around in a slow arc. _This_ he was familiar with.

"Uh-huh, that's right, it's my birthday," taunted Danny in mid-air, performing a small victory dance. The grumpy hawk pointed a clawed foot at Danny.

"Cheater."

"Like you weren't," retorted Danny, completing his dance and floating closer to the billboard. "We, err, left our stuff behind," said Danny, pointing back at the billboard behind them. "I'll go get it."

From then on they raced towards every billboard, Danny winning some, Bartimaeus winning some if it involved tricky turns. The element of competition was far more fun than only putting up the posters, sharing their grumbles about Mandrake and sharing some stories between the two different supernatural beings and the worlds they lived in.

"Hey," said Danny after one of their races, "how come, when you change form, there's always this… image of lumpy water behind you?"

"You can see that?" asked Bartimaeus in a surprised tone. "That's pretty rare."

"I'm a pretty rare hybrid," admitted Danny. "But what is it?"

"It's my true form," replied Bartimaeus. "I'd show you it but I'm not allowed to when there are commoners around."

"So you're not a shape shifter? You have a real form?"

Bartimaeus flicked some flecks of glue towards Danny, who jumped back with a yelp. "Of course I do. You have a true form as well, don't you? Something which keeps you solid and powerful. If you were a full ghost, you'd be a wisp on the wind compared to me, but you…"

Bartimaeus trailed off, returning to putting up the advert. Danny jumped up to the edge of the billboard, balancing on one leg as he attempted to look at Bartimaeus' face. The djinni carried an unhappy pull at the corners of his mouth.

"But I?" prompted Danny, cocking his head, awaiting an answer. Bartimaeus systematically ignored him.

"But I?" asked Danny again, poking Bartimaeus with one finger. The fake body felt solid.

"But I?"

"Will you stop? Forget I said that!" snapped Bartimaeus, whacking Danny with the glue brush, forcing him a step back.

"Wow, mood swing," said Danny. "What, because I'm a half-ghost I'm powerful? Tell me something I don't know."

Danny jumped back down, picking up the supplies. They'd have to return to headquarters pretty soon, they were running out of posters to put up.

"Danny," said Bartimaeus in a serious tone. "Don't let anyone know you know that. Magicians will use you for their own gain. You've got powers us entities don't have and they'll use you. They'll find a way to enslave you and force you to do things you'd never even dream of doing."

"I know," Danny said softly. "I've been controlled once before. I almost killed my best friend _twice_ before I managed to break free. Trust me, I'm not going to let that happen again."

They worked in silence for a few more minutes before Danny worked up the courage to ask: "I wondered, just how powerful _am_ I in this world, according to you? Back home I rank among the … top ten, I guess, in terms of power."

Bartimaeus glanced at Danny, squinting slightly as if he was staring into the sun. Danny noticed that he'd been doing that more often.

"I'd say you're about afrit-level, approaching marid."

"I see," replied Danny. "What's an afrit?"

Bartimaeus rolled his eyes and proceeded to explain the different classes of entities in greater detail than he'd covered before. That had been 'I'm a djinni. They're the best class. I eat imps for breakfast and moulers for lunch.'

"So I'm near the highest class of entities?"

"Judging by your aura, yes you are. Haven't you wondered why no one has bothered us so far? They're wary of anything of a high level power. And you've got some ice powers."

"So?"

"I'm a creature of _fire_ and air," emphasized Bartimaeus. Understanding dawned on Danny's face.

"Oh. I guess I'd be pretty useful to a magician, huh."

"Understating things seems to be your specialty," replied the djinni. He slapped the last poster up and quickly covered it with glue, using the brush to even out any bubbles that appeared. He squinted when he turned around, looking at Danny.

"C'mon, let's go get the second batch," he said, pointing in the general direction of the building where Danny had tumbled into this world. Without another word Danny took to the skies, swiftly followed by the hawk.

* * *

When Danny phased through the wall, he didn't expect a delegation of magicians waiting for him on the other side.

"Uh, hi," he ventured, giving a weak wave. Mandrake elbowed his way to the front of the assembled magicians.

"Seize him!" he cried, pointing at Danny. Before he knew what was going on two strong arms grabbed on to him, preventing him from moving. He tried to jerk free, but the beings kept hold of him.

"Hey, let me go!" he cried, twisting and turning to free himself. He caught sight of the beings who kept hold of him. They were tall creatures, with human torsos and the heads of Egyptian-style dogs. White wings flared out behind them dramatically.

"What's the meaning of this!" demanded Danny, anger making his eyes glow. He settled in their grip for now. He could always use his intangibility to escape should the need arise. But he needed the magician's dismissal to get out of this dimension.

"You lied to me," said Mandrake. "I sent an imp after you to listen in on you and I did some research on my own. You're not a full ghost, you're a hybrid. Half-human, half-ghost."

Mandrake's face radiated triumph. One of the magicians behind him coughed to get attention.

"How do we know he's not merely an inventive djinni?"

"Three reasons," said Mandrake, still staring at Danny. "One, he isn't hurt by silver. Observe."

Mandrake pulled out the same silver nugget he'd used before and held it to Danny's exposed neck. Nothing happened, although the creatures holding Danny by the arms flinched and leaned away from the silver.

"Two, look at his eyes. No sign of the Other Place in there. And three." Mandrake pushed the sharp edge of the nugget against Danny's cheek and tugged, eliciting a cry from Danny as it tore through his skin. A drop of ectoplasm travelled down, making him look like he was crying in an emo way.

"He bleeds," finished Mandrake his demonstration, stepping back.

"Alright," reasoned Danny, "so what if I wasn't completely honest. I'd just been thrust into another dimension along with a djinni, first thing that happens to me is you siccing an imp on me, twice, before basically forcing me to be your slave. Put yourself in my boots for a second. What would you do?"

"If I was an American spy, I'd get rid of the accent first," remarked a magician in the back on the assembly. Several of them chuckled. The frown on Danny's face deepened.

"I told you before. I am _not_ a spy. I'm not even from this world! All I want from you is a dismissal for Bartimaeus so I can go _home_!"

Frustration spilled out of every pore and Danny straightened his back, staring the teenager down. He'd put up more posters than he liked to count so he was allowed to get back to his own world, he had been forced to work through the night, and now this kid possessed the gall to essentially arrest him?

"You're an anomaly, Danny Phantom, and I am hereby arresting you for trespassing on government property," said Mandrake. Alright, now he was officially arrested.

"Uh, Mandrake," said one of the gathered magicians. Danny heard restless shuffling from the group as they slowly moved back. Mandrake whipped around.

"What?" he demanded.

"Get your scrying glass to look at his aura," said the same magician. Mandrake glanced down at the golden mirror he'd used to spy on Danny and Bartimaeus, guessed Danny. He looked at it, looked at Danny again, before worriedly looking back at the scrying glass.

"If you're playing tricks, imp, I'll see to it that I subject you to the Shriveling Fire!" he said in a warning tone. The mirror squeaked something back at him which Danny couldn't hear.

"He can adjust his power," said one of the magicians in awe and slight fear.

Danny let a smirk flit across his face. The surge of fear coming from the magicians was like balm for his tired ghost form. He hated to dwell on it, but his ghost side was fueled by emotions, both his own and those around him. And fear was one of the strongest emotions. No wonder other ghosts tried to invoke that, because it felt… nice.

He jerked forward and was rewarded by a new wave of fear. The weaker-willed ones fled backwards while others summoned more entities, each more weird-looking than the last. But even those didn't dare come closer. Only the two dog-men kept him in check, and they looked more uncomfortable by the second.

Danny had learnt that orders were orders for these enslaved beings. He pitied them, but he wanted to go home now. His body had healed enough to withstand the power of the Other Place, especially with the added fear from the magicians fuelling his 'essence', as Bartimaeus put it.

He used his intangibility to slip free from their grip on him, jumping back to assume a battle-ready stance. He'd fought strange beings before, he could do so again. He'd grab Mandrake and overshadow him to get his dismissal. He should have done so ages ago, but-

"Bartimaeus! I order you to knock him out!" cried Mandrake. Danny looked behind him, but already it was too late. Bartimaeus fell upon him. With a swift blow to the bundle of nerves in his neck and a second blow to his head Danny crumpled to the floor, losing control of his ghost form, rings appearing at his middle and speeding up and down his body, marking him as a hybrid. Before his ghost form disappeared completely, and his consciousness with it, Bartimaeus leant close, whispering in his ear.

"Sorry, Danny. But this is safer…"

* * *

Danny wasn't completely unconsciousness as the human-dog spirits carried him to an empty room and sealed him inside some kind of barrier. They sat him down in a chair first, securing him with leather restraints. They hurried away from the chair and Danny closed his eyes in pain when there was a white flash.

It took him a while to get his thoughts to focus again, and his eyes took even longer. But when he was once again able to look at the blue glow without feeling the need to throw up he began to take notice of his surroundings.

The men-dogs had sealed him inside a glowing blue ball with some kind of electricity running crisscross over it. He knew that it'd be painful to touch by looking at it. The two man-dogs had taken up post at the only entrance in the room. The cell was otherwise grey and bland, with the chair the only furniture in the room. Well, apart from the folding chair Mandrake had dragged inside.

"Ah, you're awake. Good," said Mandrake when Danny lifted his head and gently shook it to clear the last of his daze away.

"I suggest you start talking," said Mandrake in an unpleasant tone. "The ball you're in is called a Mournful Orb. Escape is impossible and I can make it shrink on command. Maybe you can make yourself smaller, but you'll never be able to make yourself completely disappear."

Danny glowered at Mandrake. He resorted to torture now to get what he wanted?

"First question. What's your name?"

"I already said," replied Danny. "It's Danny Phantom."

"If you don't want to tell me truth, please refrain from lying and just keep silent. But we'll get back to your true name later," said Mandrake. "You're half-ghost, half-human, according to your own words. Explain what that means."

"No."

Mandrake spoke a word in a foreign language and the blue cage shrank in size dramatically. Danny instinctively ducked but the electricity didn't touch him.

"Explain," demanded Mandrake.

"Bite me."

Another word, another shrinking. Danny heard it buzzing in his ears now, making it harder to hear Mandrake. But it didn't hurt yet.

Danny took a deep breath before calling upon his ghost half, transforming him. Like he'd thought, even now the electricity didn't hurt. The cage didn't feel like a ghost shield. It was on another level, another plane, as Bartimaeus would put it. Since Danny was a creature of a whole different kind of nature, maybe it wouldn't affect him.

"That. That transformation. How do you do that?"

Danny still didn't answer, focusing on turning his body intangible, escaping from the restraints. The cage buzzed behind his back and he made sure not to touch the ball in case it did hurt him. Without restraints he felt more in control, like he could actually do something about this weird situation. The dog-men stepped forward when Danny changed into his ghost form, but now they fell back once they saw that Danny didn't immediately escape.

"Tell me, Mandrake," said Danny, "what part of 'I'm from another world and only want to go home' got stuck in that ridiculously greased hair of yours? Because that's still my only intention."

"How do you make your power grow?" asked Mandrake, relentlessly crossing off questions from the clipboard on his lap.

Danny created a small green shield around his hand. He held it against the blue cage, expecting a shock. When the two made contact they sizzled and fizzled, but finally the blue gave against the green. Danny smirked as he realized what that meant.

Mandrake looked up from his clipboard, alarmed at the sound and his eyes widened once he realized what this development meant. He pointed at Danny, commanding the two dog-men to "stop him!"

Danny frowned as he realized what he had to do. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know you don't have a choice, but I don't either."

Letting his ice powers wash over him, he slammed his hands on the ground and encased both entities completely in ice. He went overboard a bit and the walls became blue rather than grey, icicles hanging from the ceiling.

Mandrake scrambled for the exit but Danny raised a hand, his green eyes glowing blue.

"Not so fast," he said, forging a wall of ice between Mandrake and the door. Next he focused on creating a big enough shield to break through the blue cage. With much fireworks and sizzling he managed to do so, effectively escaping from the Mournful Orb.

Mandrake turned around at the sounds and pressed his back against the ice. He seemed to overcome his fear and snapped his fingers.

"Bartimaeus!" he yelled. A form solidified in mid-air, a small sparrow flapping its wings to stay airborne.

"You rang?" he asked casually, its beady eyes taking in the state of the cell before looking at Danny. "Nice work!" he said, giving the best thumbs-up he could with his wings keeping him aloft.

"Protect GAK-"

Danny took hold of the teenager and pushed him against the wall, tired and frustrated and angry at this whole situation.

"Tell me," he said in a deceptively sweet voice, "you said you did some research on ghosts. Did the subject of 'overshadowing' come up?"

The fear wafting off the youth was intoxicating, exhilarating. His ghost form drank it up like a man drinks water in the desert.

Mandrake slowly shook his head, his eyes fixated upon Danny's glowing ones.

"Good," said Danny. "Then you won't know what hit you."

He turned intangible and slipped inside John Mandrake, overshadowing him with barely any resistance. Bartimaeus made an inquiring noise, landing on the edge of the folding chair.

"Are you in control now, Danny?" he asked, his small head cocked in interest.

"Yes, I overshadowed him" replied Danny, using Mandrake's own larynx to talk. It came out in a weird garbled accent, combining Danny's American English with the British tones. "But I learnt how to do a subtle overshadowing. I'll pull back now, merely _suggesting_ that he goes to his office and dismisses you."

"I thought the day would never come," said the djinni.

"You've only been here a day," replied Danny. "Anyhow, get ready to go home, Bartimaeus."

Danny pulled back like he said he would, burying his presence in Nathaniel's subconscious. Apparently Mandrake hadn't been using his real name either. He nudged the intelligence back into action and suggested that Mandrake return to his office, dodging as much people as possible.

Partial overshadowing was a trick he'd trained with Tucker as the wiling victim for a long time, but it was far better to let the human who had the knowledge walk around, rather than being in complete control and fumbling up on an essential fact which the human would know but the ghost wouldn't. He hadn't perfected it and sometimes he slipped out completely, but his anger fueled him into focus.

The corridor was empty when Nathaniel and the sparrow filed out and Danny let Nathaniel walk towards the elevators.

The walk towards Nathaniel's office was surprisingly uneventful. Few magicians were aware of what had happened in the lobby fifteen minutes ago and Danny liked to keep it that way. Those who had been present were now buried in thick tomes, Nathaniel's mind told him, trying to look up information on ghosts they could use to control Danny's incredible power.

Danny fobbed off Nathaniel's secretary and demanded that no one disturbed him for the next thirty minutes.

"Yes sir," she replied.

Danny suggested that Nathaniel locked the door behind him and Nathaniel did. Now came the tricky part. Danny had no idea how a dismissal worked.

"How do I dismiss you? And me?" asked Danny in the garbled accent. Bartimaeus was all too happy to explain and within minutes the djinni hopped around the pentacle, impatiently chirping for Danny to hurry up.

Danny slipped out of Nathaniel, relenting his hold on the magician's mind. Nathaniel looked confused for a few moments before what had happened crept back in.

"You _violated_ me!" he cried, pointing at Danny.

"Overshadowed. World of difference. Now, dismiss us and I'll never 'violate' you again."

Danny joined Bartimaeus in the pentacle. When Nathaniel looked reluctant to do anything he raised one hand, green ecto-energy swirling around his hand.

"Dismiss us," he warned. Nathaniel didn't open his mouth.

Danny pointed his palm away from the human and blasted the leather chair, which now sported a smoking hole.

"Dismiss us," demanded Danny again. "I've got a lot more where that came from. If you value your life, you'll dismiss us."

Still, Nathaniel did nothing. Danny blasted another hole in the leather chair before pointing his palm at Nathaniel.

"I'll ask one more time before I _really_ start to unleash my power. Dismiss us."

Slowly, very slowly Nathaniel opened his mouth and began the incantation. With every word Danny noticed the djinni beside him become floatier, freer. The maelstrom of the djinni's entity wrapped around Danny and dragged him up, up, towards the Other Place. With the final word every bond to this broken Earth shattered and Bartimaeus carried Danny to the other dimension.

* * *

_Well, it's been fun,_ said Bartimaeus. He used his small sparrow form to give Danny something solid to look at in this alien dimension.

When they'd arrived in the Other Place Bartimaeus immediately tugged him across the place, travelling as fast as thought. Danny hadn't yet lost his form, although he began to melt around the edges. They'd converged on something blinding, something the voices around Danny told him was the White Hole.

_It kind of was. Maybe I'll drop by someday,_ said Danny. _Good luck with Nathaniel,_ he continued.

Bartimaeus chuckled. _Learnt that through overshadowing, huh? Take care, ghost kid._

_You too, djinni,_ said Danny with a grin, giving one last wave before disappearing inside the White Hole.

* * *

Danny ran his hands over his body and whooped with joy when everything was all there. Even that relatively short trip across the Other Place had tired him out.

The familiar green of the Ghost Zone was a welcome change of scenery. Danny lazily drifted across the horizonless expanse, using the landmarks to guide his way home.

He looked at the doors around him. If one door already contained a complete dimension, he wondered what lay behind other doors.

But for now it was time to let his body rest. He'd deserved it.


End file.
